1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image capture apparatus and a record/playback device favorably applied to a camera-integrated record/playback device provided with, for example, a cross-like operation key, and a menu-operating method applied to the image capture apparatus and the record/playback device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a record/playback device in which an imaging unit and a recording unit are integrated with each other has been increasingly used in shooting programs to be broadcast on TV. In the record/playback device, an image captured with the imaging unit is recorded as a video signal in a recording unit. Instructions to start and end the recording and so on are carried out through an operation unit having buttons or the like provided on a body of the record/playback device. A video signal obtained during a period from the instruction to start the recording to the instruction to end the recording is recorded as one file called a clip. In other words, if the operation of starting and ending the recording is carried out two or more times, then two or more clips can be recorded in the recording unit.
A removable external recording medium that can be detachably mounted on the body of the record/playback device has been used as a recording unit in many cases. In recent years, the data-storage capacity of the external recording medium is increased. Thus, the number of clips recorded in the recording unit tends to increase greatly. An editing task such as deleting and selecting clips may be required to broadcast the recorded clips as a program of television broadcasting. However, it may take much time to select a desired clip from a large number of clips recorded in the recording unit.
Therefore, images of leading frames of the respective clips are reduced when the editing is carried and the reduced images are then displayed as a list of thumbnail images. Such a display allows the user to find the desired clip to be edited quickly when performing an editing task, so that the working efficiency can be improved.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-197426 discloses that video data is edited using thumbnail images.